This Heavy Bag Hits Back

History, hockey and Jersey Shore are rife with examples of the fuse-shortening effect an unrestrained barrage of trash talking can have. People get insulted, they get angry, they get in fights.

From the predictability of such primitive wiring comes opportunity, at least for London-based fitness center Gymbox. The gym has increased the hostility index of its Holborn location with the Human Punching Bag: an employee ensconced in a padded tube who taunts boxing clients as they pummel his cushioned torso. The invention is central to the “Goadivation” technique Gymbox created to keep those in its boxing workouts fired up.

“We noticed that in combat classes, people fade near the end of the session,” says Gymbox operational director David Cooper. “The Human Punching Bag’s goading provokes and motivates them to fight through the fatigue. It’s the same idea as having a trainer standing next to you and yelling. We just built a bag around the coach.”

One of my old training partners had about the same dimensions. It was both creepy and awesome to punch into his gut and have the folds of his fat and skin mold itself around the glove.

Calm down, it's only ones and zeros.

"Your calm and professional manner of response is really draining all the fun out of this. Can you reply more like Dr. Fagbot or something? Call me some names, mention some sand in my vagina or something of the sort. You can't expect me to come up with reasonable arguments man!" -- MaverickZ